On 15-16 March, VOX-Pol Programme Manager, Lisa McInerney, will participate in the EU’s Radicalisation Awareness Network’s (RAN) Civil Society Empowerment Programme’s kick-off workshop.
The Civil Society Empowerment Programme (CSEP) is an initiative produced by the European Commission with the support of partners in the Internet industry; Facebook, Twitter, Google, and Microsoft. CSEP brings together internet companies, the RAN Centre of Excellence and The European Strategic Communications Network.
The workshop has been organised with the aim to provide an opportunity for participants to learn how to construct and maintain effective CVE campaigns. Participants in the workshop include representatives from Internet companies, marketing specialists, radicalisation experts as well as (other) civil society actors. Members of the Commission will also participate and the workshop will begin with an introduction to the Civil Society Empowerment Programme by Luigi Soreca, Director of DG HOME and Omar Ramadan, head of RAN Centre of Excellence.
Ms. McInerney will be participating as part of a panel setting the scene as to the state of violent online political extremism for participants in the workshop. Lisa’s presentation will be titled Violent Extremism and Terrorism Online: State of Play, and Future Trends. Other presenters include Merel Molenkamp of the RAN Centre of Excellence, Alexander Ritzmann of the RAN Communication and Narratives Working Group, and Alicia Kearns of Global Influence.
This will be the only panel of the workshop. The remainder of the two day event will consist of breakout working sessions where participants will be divided into groups based on nationality for specific information and tips on running a successful alternative narrative or counter narrative campaign in their country. These groups will also be given 50-minutes ‘taster’ courses from each of the industry partners of CSEP (Facebook, Twitter, Google) on how to effectively campaign using their platform and showcase inspirational campaigns.